Coastal Companion

Your ultimate guide to the coast

Magellanic Penguins to be highlight of Aquarium’s new exhibit Penguin Planet

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Charleston, S.C. – January 13, 2009 – The South Carolina Aquarium confirmed today that Magellanic penguins will be arriving soon to inhabit the new temporary exhibit, Penguin Planet. The animals will be on loan from SeaWorld.

Penguin Planet SC Aqurium courtesy of SeaWorld
Penguin Planet SC Aqurium courtesy of SeaWorld

Opening March 2009, Penguin Planet will host a Magellanic penguin habitat and 550 square feet of exhibit space. Guests will have the opportunity to see these aquatic flightless birds firsthand through the exhibits 10 foot wide window allowing for underwater viewing. Included in general admission, Penguin Planet will delight and educate visitors through its awe-inspiring Magellanic penguins, children’s interactive learning games, educational exhibits on climate change effects in South Carolina and daily programs.

Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) are a near threatened species distinguished by two brown stripes on their chests. They are small birds ranging from 24-28 inches tall and average 8-11 pounds in weight. Magellanic penguins are typically found in the Falkland Islands, Chile and Argentina coasts. They prey on small fishes and invertebrates. Natural predators for the birds include Southern sea lions, leopard seals, and Patagonian foxes. A near threatened species, there is estimated to be only 1,300,000 pairs of Magellanic penguins in the world.

An accredited institution by the Association of Zoo’s and Aquarium’s (AZA), the South Carolina Aquarium’s Penguin Planet exhibit has approval from the rigorous AZA Penguin Taxon advisory group. AZA is the leading accrediting organization for zoos and aquariums and accredits only those institutions that have achieved meticulous standards for animal health, education, wildlife conservation and science. With approximately 2,400 animal exhibitors licensed by the United States Department of Agriculture, only 10% of the institutions are accredited.

Penguin Planet SC Aquarium. Photo: SeaWorld
Penguin Planet SC Aquarium. Photo: SeaWorld

Next Shuttle Launch of Discovery STS-119

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The next launch pf the space shuttle Discover STS-119 is targeted for February 12th, 2009.

The astronauts Commander Lee Archambault, Pilot Tony Antonelli, Mission Specialist Joseph Acaba, John Phillips, Steve Swanson, Richard Arnold and Koichi Wakata returned hom e to friends and family for the holidays, but are now coming back to resume preparation.

After the short holiday break, the crew at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, will continue to work to get the shuttle ready.

For more information, visit www.nasa.gov

Record Number of Injured Sea Turtles at South Carolina Aquarium

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Twelve patients representing three sea turtle species currently under the expert care of the Sea Turtle Rescue Program

Photo By: Barbara Bergwerf

Photo by: Barbara BergwerfCharleston, S.C. – December 12, 2008 – The November arrival of four cold stunned sea turtles has broken the 2007 record of 11 patients in the South Carolina Aquarium’s Sea Turtle Hospital at one time. Two green sea turtles and two loggerhead sea turtles were admitted to the hospital after the recent onslaught of cold weather which lead to the major cold-stunning event in North Carolina. Hard shelled sea turtles rely on their surroundings to regulate their body temperature and sudden temperature drops in the waters cause them to become lethargic and immobile. This makes migration to warmer waters, a necessity for their survival, impossible. Over 65 sea turtles suffered cold-stunning and stranded on North Carolina beaches. Despite the Aquarium’s hospital being essentially at capacity, staff responded to the need, working quickly to adjust animal and tank locations in order to provide relief to the inundated North Carolina rehabilitation facilities.

Transported from North Carolina by DuBose Griffin from the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, the four sea turtles received treatment immediately upon arrival. Dr. Shane Boylan, Aquarium staff veterinarian, admitted the turtles and began slowly warming their core temperatures, providing vitamin and antibiotic injections to prevent pneumonia.

“The new patients are doing well,” said Kelly Thorvalson, Sea Turtle Rescue Program Coordinator. “The greens have been a little slower to respond but all have started to show an interest in food, which is a really good sign. It’s an exciting time to come to work,” remarked Thorvalson. “Every day the Hospital operates, the Aquarium is making a difference far greater than just these twelve – we’re doing our part to help save the species.”

Even with over 14 turtle hospital volunteers, care for the twelve turtles costs over $350 a day, an all-time high for the Aquarium’s hospital, a private non-profit . To help support the Hospital, the Aquarium is offering holiday gifts that will delight any turtle lover, give the opportunity to be a Turtle Hospital Nurse, or share a Turtle Lovers Gift Basket.

Turtle Lovers Gift Basket
Delight the turtle fan in your life with this great gift basket featuring exclusive items including personally autographed copies of New York Times Best-Selling Author Mary Alice Monroe’s books, complimentary general admission for two to the South Carolina Aquarium and two tickets for a private Behind-the-Scenes Tour of the Sea Turtle Hospital.

Turtle Hospital Nurse
Join the team and get up close to sea turtles at the South Carolina Aquarium’s Turtle Hospital. Help feed and care for the Aquarium’s rescued sea turtle patients at South Carolina’s only dedicated sea turtle rehabilitation facility. This incredible gift
offers a truly memorable opportunity to help endangered and threatened sea turtles recover from critical injuries.
To get an up-close look at all twelve patients, representing three species of sea turtles, the Aquarium is offering exclusive Behind-the-Scenes Tours of the Hospital throughout the holidays to all Aquarium visitors. The tours, conducted on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 1:00 pm, offer a firsthand look at the efforts of the Aquarium’s team of trained professionals as they care for sick and injured sea turtles each day through the Aquarium’s renowned Sea Turtle Rescue Program. Attendees will meet the Hospital’s current “patients,” and hear about the intensive treatment and daily care that help to nurse the vulnerable turtles back to health. Tickets to the Behind-the-Scenes Tours of the Turtle Hospital can be purchased on-site at Aquarium admissions or by phone: (843) 577-FISH (3474). Advance reservations are recommended. For more information on tickets and prices, please visit: scaquarium.org.

The South Carolina Aquarium Sea Turtle Rescue Program helps to ensure that sea turtles have a vibrant future in our oceans. When an unhealthy or injured sea turtle is found along the coast, it is brought to the Turtle Hospital by the Department of Natural Resources where staff and volunteers monitor and take care of this threatened animal in the Aquarium’s state-of-the-art facility. The Turtle Hospital is the only dedicated turtle rescue and rehabilitation facility in South Carolina. Thirty-two rehabilitated sea turtles have been successfully released to the wild as a result of the Program. The Turtle Hospital and Sea Turtle Rescue Program, a conservation program of the South Carolina Aquarium, a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit organization, is currently caring for 12 sea turtles of three different species.

For more information on the South Carolina Aquarium visit http://www.scaquarium.org/

Evenings at Whitney with Roger T. Hanlon – St. Augustine, FL

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Roger T. Hanlon, Ph.D. will be the speaker at the December 11th Evenings at Whitney lecture. Hanlon is a recognized expert in the field of adaptive coloration or camouflage. His work on octopus and cuttlefish has been featured in the New York Times, on the PBS program Nova and a variety of other natural history TV channels. The title of his presentation is The octopus: nature’s most spectacular color change artist. Hanlon is a Senior Scientist at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. He became interested in cephalopods when he encountered an octopus on a coral reef in Panama in 1968. Its body patterning and changing coloration intrigued him, and he is still working to understand its brain and behavior.
Flying Octopus!Nearly all animals have some sort of adaptive coloration or camouflage, mostly as a primary defense against predators. But the octopus and its fellow cephalopods may be the ultimate adaptors. A distinguishing feature of cephalopods is that individual animals can change their appearance with a speed and diversity unparalleled in the animal kingdom. Moreover, some squids, octopuses and cuttlefish can show 30-50 different appearances. During his Evenings at Whitney lecture, Hanlon will discuss how and why these strange but beautiful creatures achieve such astounding behavior.

The Evenings at Whitney lectures occur on the first or second Thursday of each month depending on the speaker. They are always held at 7:00 p.m. in the Whitney Lab’s Center for Marine Studies. Monthly presentations include current science topics, plus subjects from on-going research programs at the Whitney Lab. Speakers are recognized experts in their fields who welcome questions and discussion. All lectures are free and open to the public. There is no charge for parking and reservations are not necessary. Please visit www.whitney.ufl.edu for lecture schedules or contact the Whitney Lab at (904) 461-4000.

The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience is a biomedical and biotechnology research institute of the University of Florida. It is made up of eleven different internal labs that use marine organisms for basic biological research that can be applied to human health, natural resources, and the environment. The Lab provides training for future experimental biologists, educational programs for kindergarten through university level students, and monthly lectures for the general public. It is located at 9505 Ocean Shore Blvd., St. Augustine, on the border of Flagler and St. Johns counties. To learn more about the Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience visit their website at www.whitney.ufl.edu.